Table of Contents

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Survey of Consumer Attitudes and Behavior, Fall 1962 (ICPSR 3626)

Principal Investigator(s):
University of Michigan. Survey Research Center. Economic Behavior Program

Summary:

This survey was undertaken to assess consumer
sentiment and buying plans, as well as to provide
information on the geographic mobility of adults and
families. Open-ended questions were asked concerning
evaluations and expectations about price changes, the
unemployment problem, recession, and the national business
situation. Questions were also asked on travel, reasons for
travel, cost, mode of transportation, and vacation place
preference. Other questions focused on welfare, state or
local government aid or assistance, respondents' pension
plans, savings, self-perceived class status, United States
citizenship, type of house and neighborhood lived in,
political party identification, voting behavior, and the
degree of respondents' interest in politics. Information was
also obtained on respondents' attitudes toward various forms
of savings and various types of employment agencies. Additional
variables probe respondents' buying intentions for a house,
automobiles, appliances, and other consumer durables, as well
as respondents' appraisals of present market conditions for
purchasing these items. Other variables probe respondents'
opinions of the Cold War between the former Soviet Union
and the West and its effect on business conditions in the
United States, as well as their assessment of their financial
status relative to the previous year. Demographic variables
provide information on actual and expected family size,
age, marital status, sex, race, place of birth, education,
occupation, family income, and religion.

This survey was undertaken to assess consumer
sentiment and buying plans, as well as to provide
information on the geographic mobility of adults and
families. Open-ended questions were asked concerning
evaluations and expectations about price changes, the
unemployment problem, recession, and the national business
situation. Questions were also asked on travel, reasons for
travel, cost, mode of transportation, and vacation place
preference. Other questions focused on welfare, state or
local government aid or assistance, respondents' pension
plans, savings, self-perceived class status, United States
citizenship, type of house and neighborhood lived in,
political party identification, voting behavior, and the
degree of respondents' interest in politics. Information was
also obtained on respondents' attitudes toward various forms
of savings and various types of employment agencies. Additional
variables probe respondents' buying intentions for a house,
automobiles, appliances, and other consumer durables, as well
as respondents' appraisals of present market conditions for
purchasing these items. Other variables probe respondents'
opinions of the Cold War between the former Soviet Union
and the West and its effect on business conditions in the
United States, as well as their assessment of their financial
status relative to the previous year. Demographic variables
provide information on actual and expected family size,
age, marital status, sex, race, place of birth, education,
occupation, family income, and religion.

Universe:
All families living in continental United States
dwelling units, exclusive of those on military reservations.

Data Type(s):
survey data

Data Collection Notes:

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obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.

Methodology

Sample:
One respondent from each family unit in the
dwellings sampled, usually the head of the family, or the wife.
The dwelling units were selected by area probability sampling
from 66 primary sampling units. For each dwelling unit in the
sample, an interview was sought with a respondent from the
primary family and from each secondary family (if any). The
head of the family (usually the husband) was the preferred
respondent, but the wife could substitute if the head was not
readily available.